playoff

Minnesota Timberwolves will be a dangerous NBA playoff team

By Elsie A. Dotson 3 months ago

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Many of us went into Monday night amped to watch a duel between the top-two MVP candidates and two best big men in the game, Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokić.

But even with a couple of solid performances from each man and a game that went down to the wire, there weren’t a ton of memorable head-to-head moments. Nothing fundamentally changed about the race for the award, either, as a man named Bones stole the show and the Nuggets stormed back late to beat the Sixers in Philly. (My coworker Chris Mannix was there and documented what turned out to be one of the most entertaining games all year.)

Ironically, though, it was the league’s third-best center, Karl-Anthony Towns, who thrived most Monday, dropping a career-best and NBA-season-high 60 points in San Antonio.

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Kings, Ducks in playoff position, but hold off on ordering tickets

By Elsie A. Dotson 5 months ago
Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty (8) takes the puck fron New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad.

Kings defenseman Drew Doughty (8) takes the puck from Rangers center Mika Zibanejad during a game Monday in New York. (Adam Hunger / Associated Press)

The Kings and Ducks have passed the midway point in their seasons and the Southland rivals are in contention for the playoffs. But will they be among the 16 teams competing for the Stanley Cup come May? Neither team has qualified for the postseason since 2018.

In the latest NHL roundtable, Times columnist (and Hockey Hall of Fame honoree) Helene Elliott was joined by Times hockey editor Hans Tesselaar and Times staffers Jim Barrero (a Kings season-seat holder) and Nick Leyva (a longtime Ducks fan) to discuss the Kings’ and Ducks’ chances, as well as other hot-button issues in the league.

The Pacific Division standings show the Ducks in second place and the Kings in third, meaning they’d meet in the first round if the

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Wildest stats from Chiefs vs. Bills playoff game for the ages: A look at records broken, history made and more

By Elsie A. Dotson 5 months ago

Pretty boring weekend, right? I mean, all we got were four incredible playoff games that each came down to the final play. Those four walk-off finishes were the most in a single postseason in NFL history and all of them came over a two-day stretch in a single round. The cherry on top of all that madness came in the final game of the divisional round slate on Sunday night when the Bills and Chiefs duked it out in a battle for the ages. 

Those two AFC juggernauts went toe-to-toe for the bulk of the game, but things really went haywire in the final two minutes. Both teams went absolutely bonkers and traded leads through the end of regulation where the Chiefs were inexplicably able to force overtime after getting the ball back with just 13 seconds left. As they began that game-tying drive, the Bills held a 91% win

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Ricky Rubio’s injury lowers Cavs’ playoff ceiling, but defense, favorable schedule should help sustain success

By Elsie A. Dotson 6 months ago

Ricky Rubio knew something was wrong as soon as he went down. The Cleveland Cavaliers faithful held their collective breath late in the Cavs’ 108-104 road loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday, hoping that Rubio’s waving gesticulations with his right hand were to indicate that he was going to be OK, rather than a plea for attention from the Cleveland Cavaliers training staff. The severity of the injury revealed itself just minutes later as Rubio was helped to the locker room without putting any pressure on his left leg.

On Wednesday, the worst suspicions were confirmed when ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Rubio had suffered a torn ACL in his left knee on the play, and will miss the remainder of the season.

It’s a devastating blow for the Cavs, who at 20-14 are the league’s biggest surprise success story of the season. A 10-year NBA vet, Rubio

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